Equipment
* optional
Ingredients
The Duck
- 1 whole duck, fresh or thawed
- 15 g coarse sea salt
- 1500 ml boiling water
Cavity Aromatics
- ½ orange, cut into wedges
- 20 g fresh ginger, sliced
- 2 star anise
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
Blueberry Gastrique
- 300 g fresh blueberries
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- 120 ml red wine
- 30 ml balsamic vinegar
- 40 g honey
- 150 ml duck stock or chicken stock
- 1 star anise
- 15 g unsalted butter, cold, cubed
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Remove giblets from the duck. Using a sharp skewer or needle, prick the skin all over, focusing on the breast and thighs. Do not pierce the meat, only the skin and fat layer. This allows fat to render out.
Place the duck on a rack over a sink. Slowly pour the boiling water over the duck. The skin will immediately tighten and turn slightly opaque. This step helps achieve crisp skin.
Pat the duck extremely dry with paper towels inside and out. Season the cavity with salt, then stuff with orange wedges, ginger, garlic, and star anise. Truss the legs with kitchen twine. Ideally, refrigerate uncovered on a rack for 12-24 hours to air-dry the skin.
Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). Place the duck breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 2 to 2.5 hours. Every 45 minutes, prick the skin again lightly and carefully tip the duck to drain cavity juices into the pan.
While the duck roasts, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine honey and balsamic vinegar. Simmer until bubbly and slightly thickened (gastrique base). Add minced shallot, star anise, and red wine. Reduce by half.
Add the stock and blueberries to the saucepan. Simmer gently for 15 minutes until berries burst and sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season with a pinch of salt. Discard the star anise. Keep warm.
Increase oven temperature to 220°C (425°F). Roast the duck for an additional 15-20 minutes to crisp the skin to a deep mahogany brown. The internal temperature at the thickest part of the thigh should reach 74°C (165°F).
Remove duck from oven and rest for 15 minutes before carving. Just before serving, whisk the cold butter into the hot blueberry sauce for a glossy finish.
Chef's Notes
- Save the rendered duck fat from the roasting pan! Filter it and store in the fridge; it is liquid gold for roasting potatoes later.
- Pricking the skin is the single most important step. If you don't provide exit holes for the fat, the skin will steam from the inside rather than fry in its own grease.
- For the sauce, wild blueberries provide a more complex, tannic flavor than cultivated ones, which pairs better with the gamey duck.
- The boiling water scald (step 2) is a traditional Chinese technique used for Peking Duck that works miracles for Western roasting styles.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store meat picked from the bone for best results. Store sauce separately.
Freezer: 3 months — Meat freezes well in gravy/fat; sauce freezes perfectly.
Reheating: Reheat meat in a splash of water or stock in a covered pan. Re-crisp skin under a broiler if possible.
